South Africa’s continued inaction on Zimbabwe is a disgrace. Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” is merely a euphemism for his cowardly indifference. He continues to turn a blind eye while the Mugabe regime systematically rages war on its people, avenging them for daring to exercise their democratic will at the ballot box.
“No crisis.” Yes, that is what Zanu-PF’s continued stranglehold on Zimbabwe amounts to for our president. It’s no crisis that an election is being held hostage; that the result has been ignored; and that there’s a farcical — and illegal — partial ballot recount.
Under the iron grip of its murderous dictator, Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation, has slid slowly towards the abyss. Millions are starving. The army and bureaucracy are in shambles. Lively informal settlements have become flattened moonscapes. The political opposition is quashed. Ordinary people are mercilessly persecuted. There is near-total press censorship, illegal farm expropriation and exponential inflation.
Silence about this criminal autocracy equates to a tacit approval of it. Thus, our president is complicit in the Zimbabwean catastrophe. South Africa, as Africa’s economic and military powerhouse, has been in the unique position of being able to pressurise Zimbabwe into reforming, yet Mbeki has done nothing. He has passively watched our beleaguered neighbour and the way its citizenry, both black and white, have been — and continue to be — shockingly abused in ways that bear a palpable resemblance to the sufferings of blacks during South Africa’s apartheid.
The two presidents may share a history of resistance against the subjugation of the majority. They may also share a few character traits. But this is no excuse for Mbeki to regard the friendship and approval of a megalomaniac comrade such as Mugabe as more important than the democratic votes, the fundamental rights and — most importantly — the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.
Had Mbeki and the South African government stepped in several years ago, Zimbabwe wouldn’t be imploding into the tragic mess of chaos and unimaginable suffering that it is now. Countless lives would have been saved and the economy would have remained intact. The Zimbabwean tragedy could have been avoided. It could have been avoided if South Africa, led by its president, had acted on its moral obligation — as a young democracy and a close neighbour — to champion democracy and uphold human rights.
It is only too clear that President Mbeki has blood on his hands. His chilling silence and continued attempts to give this tragedy a veneer of legitimacy means he may never be able to wash it off.
57 Responses to “Our president has blood on his hands”
Not only has Mbeki, and the ANC govt allowed the importation of weapons to a racist dictatorship, despite their own laws, as an example of evenhanded diplomacy and responsible govt.
But they have allowed the entrenchment of a military coup, in all but name, next door, with racist treatment of refugees and repeated protection and refusal to discuss in regional bodies and the UN seurity council.
Apart from what this bodes for ther plans for SA, it means that you now have a Nigeria with platinum instead of Oil on your northern border.
For a start, if the arms on the Yue Jiang get to zim, I would suggest it is only a matter of time before corrupt Zim Generals sell them to SA armed robbers for hard currency, and to all the ex-Zim soldiers now making a living as “Cash in transit” robbers in SA.
my guess is that it does a middle of the night drop in luderitz or lobito. in either case, the guns are going to make it to zim.
and this will see another million or so zimbabweans here in south africa. gee — i didn’t know we had the space for them here. ok, for the most part, this is a big empty country, but that’s because half of it is a desert.
i really want to see the pix that mugabe and phiri and chiwenga have of mbeki in compromising positions. it *has* to be some really good stuff. mbeki’s continued and blind support of mugabe just defies logic.
but then again, it just strengthens the “z” of the alphabetical listing of things from “a” (aids) to “z” (zimbabwe) about which he is either misguided, outright wrong, or both.
I agree with most of what the author here says, except about Zim’s army being in shambles. I heard that it is Zim’s top military commanders and police commanders who are really behind this whole mess and setting aside the election results. I take it these people were most privileged under Mugabe and fear that they have most to lose should MDC take power. On role of SA - I know that in 1998 when Mandela was still president he ordered SA troops into Lesotho. Would something like that be feasible with Zim?
Sir, I find your article ridiculous stupid. President Mbeki is an astute politician, a true revolutionary who support African independence and control of their countries. Why should he criticize Mugabe? Mugabe is a revolutionary and he has proven his crediability.
I’m black American and we love Mugabe. The land reform program had to happen in Zimbabwe and Mugabe is to be commended for having the courage and conviction to do return the land back to its original inhabitants.
Zimbabwe was never a country and was never a democracy.
Before Rhodes there was Shonaland and Matabeleland, ruled by traditional leaders in 2 seperate ‘countries’.
Since Rhodes created Zim and ensured that the Matabele were consigned to minority status on their own land, this area of the world has been ruled by a dictatorship of some sort.
Bob has always been a vassel of China and China is not a democracy.
Bob played Mbeki (and everyone else) by pretending to be democratic. Mbeki gave Bob enough time to change for the better. If Bob had conceded defeat then Mbeki would now be hailed as a hero.
Mbeki helped set up Zim for peaceful change via the ballot box. It was the right option. It has not worked.
How Mbeki and the ANC now react over the next few weeks will be telling for our combined future.
@todd kidd
Try and comment on topics that you are informed to comment on. You obviously haven’t been to Zimbabwe in the last few years or have the slightest clue as to what is going on there. The farms that were stolen are now overgrown and mostly desserted. A once thriving economy is in ruins with 85% unemployment, people dying on mass of starvation in rurual areas, violence on levels akin to a war zone and that against innocent civilians. Where you find the logic to support Mugabe only you know. As for land redistribution if you consider giving land to a select few cronies as land distribution then well that doesn’t justify a response quite frankly…
PS I have travelled to Zimbabwe several times in the last two years to take food to people who are starving so my comments are based on fact, what are yours based on?
Todd Kidd it would be of help for you to go to Zim, travel all over and really see for yourself how most are suffering whilst Magabe and his top comrades live in splendor. The land redistribution has benifitted a few top cronies + kept Magabe in power and no one else, go and see.
Never and never again shall Zimbabwe be a colony again. There are so many countries here in Africa that are in conflict as we speak, others have been in conflict for years but no seems to care and write about it everyday! Why is Zim such a special case? Frankly if i were to choose between puppet Tsangirai and brave Mugabe, I would choose brave Mugabe. He stood by his convictions. Giving the land to Tsangirai is paramount to giving the land back to Britain/America. Mugabe is a hero to all the African leaders because he has done what they all want to do but they just dont have the balls to do it. We wont have a whitie pretending to care about the people of Zim when the same whitie is deafeningly silent on Darfur, Somalia, Uganda etc.
I find Simon Barber’s points rather interesting. However, in my interviews with approximately 40 black South Africans (a small sample to be sure) most thought that Crocker’s and Reagan’s approach of “constructive engagement” with apartheid regime in 1980s actually helped to prolong apartheid.
um. i’m black american also. however, i live in south africa and on a daily basis i see the effects of bob’s misguided policies.
i guess i should put “american” in quotes, as the only things really american about me are my passport and sometimes my accent.
i’ve lived most of my life in various african countries and it really gets under my skin when americans (or south africans, for that matter) say viva mugabe.
bob has been a lunatic since around 1984, um, hello, gukurahundi, anyone? does that mean anything to people in america — and i mean americans that don’t have surnames line ncube or ndlovu or mpofu or moyo.
i really don’t get how people saying that voting for the mdc is bringing back the british. do you know who the largest landowner in zimbabwe is whose name is NOT mugabe?
here’s a hint: in the next couple of years, his daughter is going to marry the guy 3rd in line to the british throne.
and, hell, even ian smith got to keep his farm when the invasions started. figure THAT one out. you people who are all like “give the farms back to the original inhabitants” only seem to be worried about the small potatoes and not the big cheeses.
and besides, most of the white farmers were in favor of redistribution; just not in the way the goernment wanted to do it. because, um, that way has been a wash. have you peeped the details of leo mugabe’s divorce papers?
@ Todd Kid . Pack a few underpants,slide into those kharkis,get your running shoes on ,slip a bit of gum in your pocket and get here pronto, amigo..Your Country/Zanu-PF ..needs you.
Oh,yes dont forget your brain. Aaah on second thoughts..dont worry - you’ll be fine.
Todd Kidd is probably one of the Mbeki / Mugabe ‘friends’ making out he is an American!
(But then on the other hand America also has it’s share of people who do not have the capacity to reason!)
I agree with the writer - Mr Mbeki have you no shame?
Tod Kidd should grow up, any adult will recognise his rantings for their true worth, Bull###t.
Bob is and will stay in power until dear Thabo does a John Vorster on him and pulls the plug on the Regime which is as bad, if not worse than the Darfur genocide.
Yip, Zimbabwe is experiencing genocide and the world looks away and genuflect’s to China, again.
Frank
Todd Kidd - am a zimbabwean and live in zimbabwe. am also black like you but your statements are illinformed and embarrassing. Like has been advised, why don’t you come and live in Zimbabwe just for a month and see for yourself. Your comments add up to gross injustice to the poor families and children who are suffering in zimbabwe due to injustice. the issue is long past the land issue. it’s now politics and power. Please give us a break!
@ Greg
Correct you are sir - I’ve seen those arguments too. But I’m not sure external forces beyond ANC exile activity played any important role before conditions internally became conducive to change.
Similarly in Zim. I feel the more Mugabe and his securocrats are pushed into a corner, the less likely it is they will capitulate. Because few beyond Mugabe appear to have any exit plans, and the likelihood of retribution for all sorts of things, including the massacres, I think is high.
So Mbeki can’t say in public that it’s all gone to hell and Mugabe is responsible. Imagine what people would say if Mbeki did turn up the heat and Mugabe and his cronies responded by really going after his own citizenry? The risks of that happening now - in the build up to a run-off - are already significant. It’s extremely delicate.
But all this leaves one wondering exactly what could be done, and more importantly, when it could have been done. It’s clear as mud to me.
Todd Kidd. What are you smoking? But that would apply to someone from planet Earth. You claim to be from the US but I think you have just arrived from another planet (you were probably banished) and now you think you’ve found a place where you can spout your garbage and everybody is going to think what a bright lad you are. Well, we earthlings are not that stupid. We know garbage when we see or hear it. The universe is vast. Please go and find another planet - preferably a deserted one - so that you don’t inflict another living being with your garbage.
Mbeki, because of his previous inaction (yes, complicity with Bob) is now in a position where he has little room to move. he doesn’t know what to do to get Bob out and let democracy work.
Bob and his cronies have so much to lose that they will not let go, even if it means destroying everything.
Imagine that you are one of those who (a) has a well-paid job (b) a farm or two (c) fancy cars (d) access to as much foreign currency as you need, etc, all because of your support for Bob. Will you gladly give all this up and stare poverty and criminal charges in the face just because your party has lost the election? No ways; you will fight to the death to keep all that you have.
So, what’s going to happen? There will have to be some sort of accommodation recognising reality. That is, unless the international community steps in and forces change. As we have seen in Iraq, this doesn’t work very well
I have heard all this blame being heaped on Thabo Mbeki, I should say this is mostly from whites like the column writer. Back to the Zim issue, what have the Zimbabwean people done so far to rid themselves of their problem - Mugabe? Mbeki, rather South Africa should we become another self elected liberator like America and invade Zimbabwe, may that will make the white South African and Zimbabwean happy? Then they will have another reason to blame the poor thought-out action by our black incompetent president. Better yet Mbeki should get on the highest mountain and shout condemnation of Mugabe’s action, that will see Mugabe steeping down.
Instead of all this criticism I would like to hear feasible suggestion not this shouting condemnation b*llsh**. The Zimbabwean should stand up and fight for their country, election se g**t man, they knew these were going to be rigged. Mugabe is playing according to no rules, playing according to the rules will never see the MDC winning any election. Its mind boggling to me as to why they (MDC) are still hopeful to will any election.
Its a really funny piece that was written by someone who does not know the facts but just repeats what the papers say. I am a Zimbabwean living in South Africa, Mugabe was never a democrat he is a relic from the Cold War thats why he is the way he is. The rest of Africa right now is suffering because of the Cold War that had nothing to do with us. When Uncle Bob cam to power everyone was kissing his ass and saying he is one of best African leaders because in all of Africa he was one of the leaders who had not fully embraced communism. People claim he is a Marxist but i beg to differ i believe he is and was evil he has never changed. I saw the effect of Gukurahundi while the rest of the western world was giving him doctrates and commending him for a job well done. To all the people who say Mbeki has not done enough on Zimbabwe what do you want him to do? Since when is shouting diplomacy? Mugabe is an elected president in a country there is really nothing anyone in this world can do apart form us zimbabweans voting him out. Mbeki can shout all he want Bob wont go anywhere. Good examples are Tony Blair and Bush they are more powerful than Mbeki but they failed to remove Bob, even Blair lost the fight and left. They introduced smart sanctions and all the other things they can think of guess what Bob is still cheating in the election and the odinary people are suffering. How many time did this dude say he was going to retire in 2008? Instead of shouting i believe they should have engaged him and tried to make his exit respectable irregardless of his human right record. I wud rather let him go for free if it means Zimbabwean will stop suffering, but no one cares about that they all jump on their high horses and shout like little children but they are secretly making money form the problems in that country. Look at Australia the dnt want their cricket team playing in Zimbabwe coz of Bob but they dont mind mining platimun from there, same with Briatain they sout and say alot of hot air but they are busy trading in Zimbabwe, last time i checked Barclays bank is operating in Zim. So ask your self do these people who are making noise really want Bob gone or are they doing it for votes and is shouting going to remove him from power?
Question: why is an advertising student professing knowledge on intricate political matters?
This is one of the most fumbling political analyses I have ever read. The author apparently knows very little of Zimbabwe’s history or the complexities of land reform in that country.
The fact is, the majority (or at the very least, significant proportion) of Zimbabweans want Mugabe to stay in power. In the weeks since the election and delay in results, how many protests have there been? Kenya had riots in days, Ukraine had an “Orange Revolution”, and Zimbabwe could even have a “stay away”!
Don’t blame Mbeki if Zimbabweans don’t even want to sit on their couches for day to sit down for their democracy. Heaven forbid they should actually stand up and walk peacefully to the ZEC offices! Considering that, why should Mbeki, or any other world leader for that matter, declare that Mugabe must step down when Zimbabweans themselves aren’t that interested in him stepping down.
In any democracy – no matter how rigged it may or may not be – you get the government you deserve
I used to worship Gradfather Bob some eight years ago when he took over the land giving it back to the Blacks. i was a young man then and i believed in empowerment of black people.
But i changed my mind when grandfather Bob turned against his people to opress them. In the past eight years the Grandfather destroyed the country, made the lives of Zimbabwean HELL hiding behind British Colonialism.
I am disappointed on you Grandfather!
What i fail to understand from Mbeki’s so called informed critics is what it is that they want? Condemnation of Mugabe or a lasting solution to the problems faced by Zimbabwe? They seem to think that Mbeki’s condemnation is the magic wand that will make all of Zimbabwe’s problems vanish overnight. How stupid and unimaginative!
Mbeki did the best that he could have done under the circumstances, condemnation of Mugabe will drive Bob deeper into madness, it will not achieve anything. These stupid analysts and commentators keep on saying that Mbeki is the only one who can stop the crisis in Zimbabwe, but they fail to tell us how. Standing on mounain tops and telling the whole world that Mugabe is bad will not achieve anything.
For a minute whites should take off their colonial glassess and the the world for what it really is and stop doing everything in their power to look down on African governments and African intellect.
Mr Matthews thank you for your annoying little input,but you’ve lost the plot completely..
“No Crisis” was what caused Mr Mbeki to be so infamous, he should have kept quiet about Zim i.e. “quite diplomacy”, and left the talking to people like you who are always in Zim and know exactly how the free the “poor Zimbabweans”.
Mr Mbeki now has a bad reputation thanks to all his hard efforts (stains more than blood).If anyone has blood on their hands it’s the people in Zim who keep voting for Mugabe and all those who get beaten up and lie down, all those who watch and actively do nothing (Alex), and the idiots that beat up their fellow country men.
If Zimbabweans sit back and expect the world to help then they’ll wake up in China as slaves. Just realised that the only brave thing about Zimbabwe is Bob.
Quite a thought-provoking article by Alex. And, wow, what a debate this has sparked! It seems, though, that some want to air their views while seeking to suppress the “dissenting” voice: Todd’s is an illustration of the fact that opposing or polarisation of views is existent insofar as Zim is concerned. To ask that Todd comment on things he knows about and refrain from those he doesn’t know about (read Zimbabwe) is not dissimilar to the kind of political suppression that we complain about in Zimbabwe. Nor is it different from the argument that those who are South Africans should rather have no say in Zim affairs. To argue that Todd needs to keep quiet because he is, as he claims, an American is rather foolish and, and best arrogant. The truth of the matter - if fools who’d rather not hear Todd’s perspective - is that Todd’s view is an epitome of the competing view regarding Robert Mugabe - no matter what others may think of him: otherwise, how did he even “stomach” to get an almost 50% electoral vote for parliament if he is such an abominable person in Zimbabweans’ eyes? Pause and think about that.
One rather disappointing aspect of Alex’s article, as thought-provoking as it is, is that he omits to mention how he thinks South Africa should have acted a long time ago in Zimbabwe. Without this crucial aspect, his article gets insipiently reduced to the lang-hackneyed rehash that the media has been wont to recycling: nothing new, and nothing substantive.
I just like the cartoorn by Zapiro. Indeed our President is carrying a heavy big Prick.By the time he steps aside, he’ll have no energy to be involved in any activity happening in our country. It’s quite sad that this happen between two intellectuals Dr Mugabe and offcourse reknown economist, their careers are just not coming forth.
@ Todd Kidd Supporter. Can you explain to me why Britain/America would ever want to re-colonize a basket case country with a gazillion problems like Zimbabwe. Whatever Zim has, can traded for other goods without the associated problems. Or is this merely the old “gevaar” tactic in another guise. Learn from history and move on.
I’m not a Thabo Mbeki fan. Far from it. But I’m not sure what Thabs is supposed to do about Bob and his thugs.
Publicly condemn them? That doesn’t work, Umar Hassan al-Bashir (Sudan’s president) has been condemned for the atrocities in Darfur and he’s blithely ignoring the outcry and carrying on regardless.
Send in troops? Um…what troops? The Cheetahs were decommissioned earlier this month and we’ll have to wait a while before we have enough Gripens. That’s assuming we have pilots because the Air Force is haemorrhaging qualified personnel.
It’s no use shaking our heads and bemoaning Thabo’s lack of action. Zimbabweans must take their own future into their own hands.
todd,
you and your supporter must be kidding.
Anthropologists now know from recent genetic research that homo sapiens colonized the rest of the world only 60-80 thousand years ago out of Africa. Our dominant local (black) tribes have also spent considerable time outside Africa and then moved back (wow!). The white ‘tribe’, having lost some melanin, was one of the last to return, initially in southern Africa to regions which had not yet been populated (or, in some cases, had been laid waste) by the black tribes that have returned to our common ancestral continent. Tribes with the greatest claim to being ‘indigenous’ have been marginalized by all returning ‘prodigal’ tribes - black and white. This puts a new perspective to the term ’settler’, especially regarding southern Africa. Interesting, how science can uproot fondly held beliefs about ‘historic entitlement’. We all are where our ancestors originally came from, and wishing somebody back to where ‘he’ came from is rather pointless. If one considers that Europe could be unified less than half a century after the two most horrendous wars in human history, there really is no excuse in southern Africa for not granting everybody a place in the sun.
Whatever Bob’s policies are or were, the electorate voted him out. That may be inferred from his refusal to release the results, the intimidation and other impartial news coming from Zim. This despite his refusal to allow independent media inside “his” country (or independent journalists to report on it). It is also clear that he has been stalling so that the Chinese arms may be used for his next “election campaign”.
While no-one expects Mbeki to invade Zim, his support for Mad Bob is obvious, whether abusing SA’s chair on the UN Security Council to stifle debate or the haste with which the transshipment of arms of oppression was approved. It was the ANC which campaigned for an arms boycott of SA when it practised policies against international law, though it’s moot whether as immoral & destructive as Mad Bob’s, that is now applying utmost sophistry and adopting the Nat’s “can’t interfere in a sovereign country” line.
Were Mbeki to order an embargo against the perpetrator (not even full economic sanctions which SA ultimately used against Smith) even if the regime did not fall, it would give hope to the Zimbabweans.
Mbeki, a man driven by resentments and vindictiveness, will NEVER support a party which sprang from Labour (the equivalent of Cosatu, the very people who humiliated him at Polokwane).
The imposition of this concocted story about the history of Africa and indigenous Africans is making me laugh. Some white South Africans have conjured up this story of the southern tip of the continent having been empty when they arrived. A blue lie. Africa was one continent before its balkanisation by colonialists during the scramble for Africa. No tribe could claim any designated areas as Africans were nomads until after we were confined to enclaves through the barrel of a gun. Which books are these people reading to come up with such lies. I cannot write authoritatively on the migration of Africans colonising other parts of the world. What I know is that Africans colonised the southern tip of Europe and imparted their wisdom to particularly the Romans. They went to other parts as slaves as far as I know.
French scholars like Voltaire, the paintings of Picasso and others have acknowledged the wisdom that Africans imparted to Europeans through music art and science particularly mathematics.
Consulting Engineer - you are right that Mugabe has been giving land to ZANU cronies, but you are wrong on the history, namely that “white negotiated with black” for the land. If you refer to Lobengula signing away much of Matabeleland, he did so almost at gunpoint, he knew what happened to Cetshwayo in South Africa’s Zululand when the latter refused British designs on his land. For the rest of Rhodesia/Zim, the British South Africa company under Rhodes took it from the Shona people by pure force, that is why in 1896-97, Zimbabwe had its first chimurenga. When the land invasions in Zim first started in 2000 I supported the principle of land reform even though the murders of white farmers were regrettable. However, it soon became obvious from reports that the land was going to ZANU cronies and not to black Zimbabweans who needed it. However, the corrupt rule by Mugabe and ZANU do not erase the true history of the conquest of Zimbabwe’s land by sheer force backed by a doctrine of “white supremacy.” It also does not erase fact that Zimbabwe needed land reform, and that this process should have in fact started as soon as Smith regime was gone.
I agree with Luddite and Teboho, the Zimbabweans should be fighting for their rights. Perhaps it is time for a second armed struggle. Will you guys be willing to support the Zimbabweans as they struggle for freedom from the yoke of Mugabe. Will South Africans put money forward for this struggle. Mugabe believes that to support others is treason, so are those South Africans who believe that Zimbabweans must free themselves going to support them? Will you boycott the Zimbabwean teams or throw nails on the pitch?
The problem is not Mbeki, or Mugabe… If you climb up Table mtn and look northwards you can see a lot of nonsense.
I think there should be another Bantu movement, this time towards North. Maybe Zuma becomes a sort of Napoleon and decides to head it. If so, then all ideas on his way would be refreshed, from Cape to Kampala, and “a new world would rise”…
(I think this time this will be good enough to go through the editorial censure.)
Funny thing…land at the airport that OR Tambo built and your passport is checked. Walk from Zim to South Africa and arrive at Home Affairs for your welcome. From the African perspective there is nothing wrong with Zim and so what do you want Thabo to do … be European with a western electorate? Doing nothing is the African Governments way, simply because your electorate agrees and votes for you again.
Welcome Zim policies now and get used to them South Africa … you will be living with them soon.
Mugabe is not the struggle hero everyone makes out he is, he simply assasinated the true leaders. Read your history.
Land reform was necessary, the UK started giving funds as per Lancaster House and Mugabe misappropriated it. End of funds. Documented.
Mbeki could have continued with quiet diplomacy while putting the financial squeeze on Mugabe instead of propping him up for so many years.
The 2000 “land distribution” was supposed to give one farm per farmer to ensure some sort of equitable distribution but many ZANU-PF bigwigs have more than 5 farms, how so?
One of the first farms invaded was owned by a black man and 30000 people were displaced. Farm in ZANU-PF hands now.
It is, and always has been, about power and money.
You only topple dictators by removing the source of funds. Apartheid ended because SA was bankrupt. Listen to history and we might hae a better future.
XNM.
Get your facts straight - Arabs are not blacks. The only thing the Romans got from blacks were the food and drink brought to then. The Arabs however were scholars and doctors
Alex I think you should concentrate on your advertising studies. Maybe and just maybe you are good in them, political analysis is not your forte. Quite fairly your comment is annoying and stupid.
Mugabe will only leave when he is forced to leave. That will either be done internally or externally. Mugabe is playing by using his own security forces as a weapon. But that weapon you can only wield while he has something to offer. Once all the coins in the piggy bank have gone the military will turn. It is one thing to starve your own people while they have a AK-47 pointed at their for-head, but what happens when the person holding the AK begins to get hungry. South Africa better do something quick, before Zimbabwe becomes another Burundi.
Is Timbuktu an Arab country where the first university in the world was established? Is Senegal an Arab country where people from all over the world went to study astronomy?
Why is Voltaire referring to those who imparted knowledge to Europeans as Africans? Why are the statues in Rome those of Africans with course hair in honour of Africans who taught them mathematics? Get your facts right too.
Chris
Histroy is not your thing so zip it and clearly you dont know s**t about politics. Most white people just talk without looking at facts. Most african countries are what they are because of western powers and the soviet union. There are so many examples of really leaders being assasinated so as to put people that can be controlled. Even south africa played a role in f**king up other african countries. Thats why we have people like Chris spouting the same rubbish they where taught as kids by their parents. I pity you.
Consulting engineer
signig something out of fear of your people is not negotiating.
I reckon that Mr Mugabe has committed an act of terrorism against South Africa just as surely as if he’d sent a suicide rickshaw loaded with home brew to crash into the Union Buildings (although this would be welcomed by some). The Mugabe terrorism is to force one million desperate people into SA to take jobs and sadly commit crime.
Master Mbeki should consider this as he fiddles on
After Obama wins, he’ll publically recognize the americans’ sins. As a compensation, he’ll send all afroamericans to save Africa. Then, after all south africans start singing Gospels, chinese will stick to Congo/Sudan and the world will be great again.
Mbeki has used every opportunity for the past 8 years to assist Mugabe. Using the SA Ministry of Foreign to protect Mugabe by lobbying motions of “no debate” on human rights abuses at the United nations and providing platforms for Mugabe to insult Britain and the USA (al the Wold Conference on Sustainable development - as if Mugabe knows anything about sustainable development!!). If Mbeki says he is a mediator, why does he not hold hands in public with Tsvangirai?.
The timing of the “no crisis” statement is perfect for Mugabe and zanupf because the gullible idiots in africa and the west are blinded by the total military onslaught currently being exacted on the population of Zimbabwe for daring to vote for the opposition.
SADC must also shoulder some of the blame because they have imposed a known zanupf sypathiser on the Zimbabwe and called him a mediator.
If anyone is in any doubt about how Zimbabweans feel at this time, be aware that the word Mbeki is now a swear word.
The sad result is that Mbeki’s disgusting behaviour is engendering a feeling that South Africans don’t care. This is reflected in the way South Africans, especially the police, are treating the poor desperate souls who are escaping south. One thing is certain, Zimbabweans as a nation may forgive, but they will never forget the intolerance and the way they have been disrespected by the so-called authorities in South Africa in their hour of need.
[…] of the readers of my previous post, Our president has blood on his hands, believe that Zimbabweans should be left to sort out their own problems. That is tantamount to […]
Perhaps we should declare a moratorium on all Zimbabwe discussion.It’s such a looney-toon situation that it almost drags us, as more or less sensible people, into its own infantile nonsense just by discussing it seriously. I mean, who can even caricature Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabage, their inflation rate, or anything else about them for that matter? As for President Mbeki, well… Even Zapiro’s cartoons are now understatement, poor man.
TJ Ruthenberg
Todd Kidd
If whites should return to Europe and leave Africa to the blacks - then is the reverse not also fair? Should black Americans, like you, not also return to Africa - preferably to live in Zimbabwe or Sudan? Give America back to the Indians.
Greg
If the white settlers had not arrived about a century ago there would have been no Shona for the land to be redistributed to - the Matabele were destroying them in battle. This was before the Shona had AK 47s given to them.
Peter
Apartheid did not end because SA was bankrupt, but for a number of factors - with a lot of help from “our friends”. The hero in that story was De Klerk, which is why he got a Nobel Prize. Tell me any other leader in Africa who gave up power voluntarily, other than Mandela?
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Alex blogs about politics and other animals at AFRODISSIDENT which was a runner-up for Best SA Blog About Politics and Best Original Writing on an SA Blog in both the 2008 and 2009 SA Blog Awards.
On April 27 2009, Alex launched The Soapbox, an online platform where young South Africans can speak out about things they feel strongly about. The Soapbox aims to fight political and cultural apathy and to foster tolerance and a culture of intelligent debate among young South Africans. Join its Facebook group.
On Friday, the BBC reported that Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's prime minister and head of the opposition MDC, had declared support for Robert Mugabe's...
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu has defended Julius Malema's lusty renditions of the infamous "kill the boers, they are rapists" song, arguing (accordin...
Recent reports that President Jacob Zuma has fathered his twentieth child with a woman he is not married to have disturbing implications for the battl...
Last week it was announced that Mugabe's Kimberley Process cronies have decided to give him until June to withdraw the soldiers in the Marange diamond...
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Not only has Mbeki, and the ANC govt allowed the importation of weapons to a racist dictatorship, despite their own laws, as an example of evenhanded diplomacy and responsible govt.
But they have allowed the entrenchment of a military coup, in all but name, next door, with racist treatment of refugees and repeated protection and refusal to discuss in regional bodies and the UN seurity council.
Apart from what this bodes for ther plans for SA, it means that you now have a Nigeria with platinum instead of Oil on your northern border.
For a start, if the arms on the Yue Jiang get to zim, I would suggest it is only a matter of time before corrupt Zim Generals sell them to SA armed robbers for hard currency, and to all the ex-Zim soldiers now making a living as “Cash in transit” robbers in SA.
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